Can unplanned pregnancies hurt the environment?

More than 50 percent of pregnancies in the United States are unplanned.

COLUMBUS – Today is World Vasectomy Day, and an environmental group wants men to consider, as they jokingly put it, “getting whacked for wildlife.”

It’s a campaign to get people talking about a sensitive subject – in light of what some see as the planet’s overpopulation and its environmental toll. Leigh Moyer. population adviser for the Center for Biological Diversity, said people who care about the environment will take steps to limit unplanned pregnancies.

“In the United States, more than 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned,” she said, “so we really have to address that – for the sake of the planet, basically.”

Today, doctors in many countries around the world, including developing nations, are performing vasectomies free of charge. The Center for Biological Diversity is giving out free T-shirts featuring a polar bear carrying a big pair of scissors to guys who prove they’ve had the procedure.

According to Moyer, planet Earth is in what’s called the “sixth mass extinction,” but this time it can’t be blamed on an asteroid.

“Scientists believe that we are currently in an extinction period,” she said. “Species are going extinct at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, and it’s caused by human activities.”

Researchers are mixed on the topic of exactly how much and what types of impact humans are having on the environment. But there are more than 7 billion people on the planet, and experts estimate that, worldwide, the number of births each day is more than double the number of deaths.

More information about the campaign is online at whackedforwildlife.org.

More than 50 percent of pregnancies in the United States are unplanned.

http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2015/11/web1_gr-48948-1-11.jpgMore than 50 percent of pregnancies in the United States are unplanned.